Crowdfunding for overseas cancer treatments
It’s no secret that more and more Australians are heading overseas for cancer treatment. We see it every week on our website. Everyday Aussie’s are crowdfunding for treatment in places like Mexico, India and Europe. The question is why. Why are people crowdfunding for cancer treatments overseas?
Simply put, these new and experimental cancer treatment options are delivering high success rates than what is currently offered in Australia. Even in the western world, many countries, including New Zealand, Canada and the USA are falling behind in new treatments available in Europe and South America. In 2014, the British government set aside 200 million pounds (A$350 million) to bring new treatment options to the UK, which has been luring Australians overseas ever since. People are even heading to Germany, more specifically, the University Medical Centre in Freiberg, which has been touted as one of the 5 best hospitals in Europe, especially in the area of cancer prevention and treatment.
Earlier this year, a campaign page was set up for Amanda, a young woman from VIC who was crowdfunding for travel and medical costs to Mexico to undergo treatment for ovarian cancer at the Bio Medical Centre in Tijuana. After exhausting all treatment options in Australia, which failed, Amanda heard about Bio Medical Centre’s high success rates and considered it her last chance to beat cancer and get on with life. But why did Amanda have to go all the way to Mexico for life-saving treatment?
Back to our shores and the cost of these cancer trials are so high that the Australian government is unwilling to set aside any funds to subsidise the cost. News.com.au are reporting that there are currently 30 new cancer treatments that are in Australian, but aren’t subsidised by the government, Medicare or private health insurance agencies.
Meet Leah. Leah had been in remission for neuroendocrine cancer and it had unfortunately returned. After exhausting all options, Leah heard about a treatment that had a success rate of 80%. Only one problem, this Mexican treatment had come to Australia but wasn’t recognised by Medicare or private health insurance. Patricia, a friend of Leah, set up the page to help fund the cost of treatments in Australia, which amount to $10,000 a visit. Not only that, Leah has to fly from Karratha, a small mining town in north Western Australia, to Perth for each treatment, meaning she’s away from family for long periods of time and, sometimes, out of pocket for travel and accommodation expenses.
At mycause, we are proud to be pioneers in crowdfunding and love the fact that we are able to give people like Amanda and Leah a platform to crowdfund on to raise funds for life-saving medical treatments. It’s one of the many reasons why we’re here.
If you or someone you know is currently struggling financially to pay medical bills or treatment costs, consider making a mycause fundraising page and crowdfund with your friends, family, community groups and network for your cause.